The scientific community was elated last summer when NASA scientists found long, dark streaks on the surface of Mars that they said could be proof of possible flowing liquid water on Mars.

Now, almost a year later, new research from researchers at Northern Arizona University and the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory has come out suggesting that if those dark streaks -- called “recurring slope lineae” (RSL) -- were created by flowing water, it wasn’t much. Furthermore, they say it’s also possible that the RSLs weren’t created by water at all, though it’s not clear to them just yet what did cause the streaks if it wasn’t flowing water.

The tests, done using data collected by the NASA Mars Odyssey mission’s Thermal Emission Imaging System, measured the temperature of the ground that had dark streaks versus areas that did not. The results showed no temperature difference in the compared areas, and it was determined that at most the darkened streaks on Mars surface contain three percent water. That’s about as much as you’d find in the driest desert sands on Earth, according to a NASA JPL press release.

The researchers are careful to point out that the new research doesn’t contradict last year’s findings that suggest there could be flowing water on Mars during the summer months, but it does narrow down exactly how much water could have created them.

Guest:

Chris Edwards, assistant professor of physics and astronomy at Northern Arizona University